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Sea Life Explore aquatic animals, plants and seaweeds that inspire everything from cinematic monsters to tasty dishes to local economies.

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Sea life on the back of my neck

Here’s where I start to explore a broadened definition of “Sea”
in Sea Life to include all things aquatic. Fresh and saltwater are
one continuous body of H2O (water) molecules. However, tossing a
bunch of salts in the mix makes for a major division between things
that live on the salty side of the line and those that live on the
fresh.

Forestfly (Nemouridae) with an
Ensatina salamander. Photo: Jeff Adams

The community of visible critters in freshwater (streams, lakes,
rivers, etc.) is dominated by aquatic insect larvae, but these
juvenile insects are nearly absent in salty waters. There are some
groups in which species have crossed over. Snails, clams, mussels,
sand fleas, rolly pollies and crabs all have relative in fresh
water. I’m sure I’ll touch on some of those over time, but first I
wanted to get to the bug on the back of my neck.

A couple weeks ago, I swatted at something that was sending
shivers down my back as it crawled across my neck. When I drew my
hand away, the small, dark insect had decided my hand was an
equally suitable crawling space. It was small and delicate, with
long thin wings that laid flat on its back. When I finally blew it
off outside, this forestfly (or little brown stonefly, Nemouridae)
fluttered clumsily away from the relative safety of my hand to the
dangers of the air.

Forestflies are a family of stoneflies (Plecoptera = Greek for
braided [plekein] wings [pteryx]) and very primitive insects. Like
dragonflies and several other insect groups, the larvae (or nymphs)
look similar to the adult insects. Instead of having the pupa stage
that a caterpillar uses to change into a butterfly, these nymphs
just shed their skin one last time, extend their wings and fly.
Flying is clumsy business for a stonefly though. You’ll most often
find them hanging out on vegetation, relatively close to water. As
a group, they are particularly sensitive to human activities in the
watershed and effective indicators of stream health.

Three different forestfly
nymphs. Photo: Jeff Adams

The forestflies and a few other small, vegetarian species of
stonefly crawl from the water and sprout their wings in the
winter or early spring. Forestflies are particularly big fans of
small streams and and are often the last of the stoneflies to
remain in streams that have been impacted by human activities. They
aren’t predatory like some of their larger stonefly cousins, but
serve an important role helping break down leaves and other plant
matter.

Forestfly (Visoka sp.) with
gills on the underside of its head. Photo: Jeff Adams

Something I find pretty cool about the forestflies is that
several species have gills on their neck and head. These gills
aren’t like those of fish. They look more like little soft fingers
but provide that important function of helping them get extract
dissolved oxygen from water. Hard to imagine those gills don’t get
in the way though. Because their metamorphosis is so simple, you
can often spot nubs of gills on the underside of the adult’s head
as well, even though they’re no longer needed.

So next time you want to squish an unseen creepy crawly, maybe
try to take a closer look. Your friendly neighborhood stonefly may
be paying you a visit during it’s short adult life. Hope you’re
having a wonderful spring! JEff